The telecoms regulator, ARCEP, provided an update on Thursday on the progress of the deployment of 4G in France. For the authority, the operators have worked well, even if their actions can still be improved.
Five years after the launch of New Deal mobile, in January 2018, ARCEP published a report on the progress made in the coverage and quality of mobile services. The agreement at the time requested and concluded by the government with the operators aimed to generalize 4G and cover the entire territory, in particular to put an end to white zones, these places devoid of any connection. While several of the obligations must be met by 2031, where are we today?
More than 1.9% of the territory in white zone in 4G
Regarding very high speed mobile broadband, the number of sites equipped with 4G more than doubled between the end of 2017 and the end of 2022, notes ARCEP. The 4G coverage of the four operators now extends to 88% of the territory, compared to 45% at the start of 2018, a significant increase. As for the share of the territory in the white zone, which we were talking about, it fell from 11 to 1.9% in 4G over this same period.
Over the years, the country’s 4G mobile coverage has become more balanced. The proof in figures: in 2015, only 6 departments had coverage greater than 90% of their territory. In 2022, only 6 departments did not have coverage above 90%.
Regarding the voice and SMS service, between 99.5 and 99.7% of the population now benefit from quality coverage called “good coverage”, you will excuse us for the repetition. 92.3 to 96.1% of citizens benefited from “very good coverage” at the end of 2022, compared to 91.2 to 93.6% two years earlier.
Flows increasing, but areas for improvement on roads and railways, according to ARCEP
And now, voice quality. On this parameter, measurements carried out between 2019 and 2023 show an increase of between 8 and 10% in all areas, whether rural, intermediate or dense. Likewise, the quality of service of mobile Internet has also increased. ARCEP indicates that the proportion of measurements greater than 8 Mbit/s in download speed (download) has jumped from 64 to 82% between 2018 and 2023.
The operators were praised in that 90% of the mobile sites opened in rural areas are shared by the four operators, proof of the players’ awareness of the importance of covering more remote places. But although rural areas have benefited from deployments, the quality of service remains below that enjoyed by densely populated areas, in the eyes of the regulator. The authority also targeted 4G coverage outside vehicles on priority roads and along railway lines as areas for improvement.
For the years to come, several mechanisms, including the targeted coverage system, should contribute to continuous improvement in the coverage and quality of services. Obligations linked to the 3.5 GHz band and deployments planned until 2031 are also key factors in guaranteeing optimal connectivity throughout the territory. Finally, we note that more than 400,000 users currently benefit from fixed 4G offers in France, where the fiber network is not developed, for example.
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